This summer, Ethnofest heads outdoors with a special screening programme at Stella Open-Air Cinema. Over two evenings, the screenings are dedicated to women who choose to tell their stories through documentary film.
Five films from different countries and historical periods come together to create a journey through the complex realities of work. Exploring women’s experiences, the often-invisible dimensions of everyday work, gender inequalities and the forms of resistance, solidarity and collective action that emerge within workplaces, the programme offers a multifaceted perspective on women’s labour across time and space.
The starting point for the programme is Ethnofest’s most recent production, Craftswomen (Mastorisses) by Gabriela Gerolemou. The film premiered at the 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival and was screened as the sold-out closing event of the 16th Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival. The documentary follows three women carpenters in Athens as they attempt to transform a community of friends and collaborators into a professional woodworking workshop. Through a subtle observational approach, the film documents their entry into a traditionally male-dominated profession, challenging stereotypes surrounding labour, expertise, and competition.
Taking Craftswomen as its point of departure, the programme opens a broader dialogue around women’s work across diverse social and cultural contexts. From strippers in 1970s Chile to migrant domestic workers in contemporary Lebanon; from women labourers in a small Mexican workshop in the 1980s to female Tuk-Tuk drivers in 21st century India, the films highlight the contribution of women filmmakers in shaping a distinctly female cinematic gaze; one centred on lived experience, care, collaboration and social reality.
The summer screenings coincide with the Ethnofest Summer School and aim to encourage student participation in the organisation’s activities while strengthening the Summer School’s public engagement and outreach. More broadly, they seek to establish a new summer gathering space where audiences, students and filmmakers can come together through cinema and discussion.
Film Still from Craftswomen (Mastorisses) by Gabriela Gerolemou
Screening Programme
Friday, July 3 | 21:00
Craftswomen | 73’
2025 | Directed by Gabriela Gerolemou
Maria, Stavroula and Magda decide to open their own woodworking workshop and relocate to a new neighbourhood. Gabriela Gerolemou quietly observes this transition, documenting the relationships that develop within and around the workshop. The film offers a compelling counterpoint to gender stereotypes in the workplace, exploring alternative forms of collaboration, craftsmanship and professional identity.
Friday, July 10 | 21:00
A Dream as in Colours | 10’
1972 | Directed by Valeria Sarmiento
In her debut film, Valeria Sarmiento follows a group of women working as striptease dancers in two of the most well-known cabarets of 1970s Chile. Offering a rare female gaze on a profession marked by social stigma and contradiction, the film sheds light on the complexities of women’s labour, representation, and agency in a deeply gendered social landscape.
*This screening is presented in collaboration with the Film Archive of the University of Chile (Cineteca Universidad de Chile).
Fake Fruit Factory | 22’
1986 | Directed by Chick Strand
An intimate documentary set in a small papier-mâché workshop in Mexico, where young women craft fruits and vegetables by hand. While the factory is managed by an American expatriate and owned by his Mexican wife, the film’s attention remains firmly on the workers themselves. Through vibrant imagery, music, movement, and the constant flow of workplace gossip, the documentary offers a lively and revealing portrait of the women’s daily lives, friendships and candid reflections on men and relationships.
Like a Spiral | 28’
2024 | Directed by Lamia Chraibi
Like a Spiral unfolds as a dialogue between Beirut and five migrant domestic workers living under the Kafala system. The women’s voices emerge through grainy, intimate images, bearing witness to lives marked by exploitation and dispossession. Through memories, reflections and everyday acts of resilience, they speak of freedoms denied and identities continually negotiated. Moving to the rhythms of oppression and survival, the film traces their determination to endure, resist and assert their existence against the forces that seek to render them invisible.
Auto Queens | 30’
2025 | Directed by Sraiyanti
Set in the bustling streets of Chennai, Auto Queens chronicles the rise of Tamil Nadu’s first women-led auto-rickshaw union, Veera Pengal Munnetra Sangam. At its heart is the enduring friendship between Mohana, the union’s visionary president, and Leela Rani, her fellow driver and closest ally. As they confront the daily realities of gender-based discrimination, their differing responses reveal both the challenges and strengths that sustain their collective struggle. Through their story, the film captures a movement built on courage, sisterhood and the determination to claim space in a profession long dominated by men.
Stella Open-Air Cinema (34 Tenedou St., Kypseli)
Tickets: more.com & at the cinema box office
Screenings will be presented with English subtitles